Hanwell Town vs Cray Wanderers – FA Cup 1QR Replay – Tuesday 2nd September, 7.45 pm – Match Report
Hanwell Town 1
English 90+1
Cray Wanderers 0
Photos to follow.
Cray Wanderers FA Cup ambitions came to an abrupt end as Hanwell Town advanced to the 2nd Qualifying Round after a goal two minutes into added time by substitute Kameron English decided a close and entertaining encounter.
The sides had to do it all again after the 2-2 draw at Flamingo Park on Saturday in a game where both teams threw everything at it so there wouldn’t be a replay but an extra game was required and went right to the wire.
Cray had to make changes from Saturday and were without the injured Frankie Raymond, Luke Allen and Josh Williams absent on top of other players like Tom Bonner, Frankie Morgan and Remi Sutton being out of the side. Quade Taylor did return to the starting lineup following suspension and into the team came Marc-Anthony Okoye, Alex Hernandez and Lateef Adaja. Hanwell had to make two changes from Saturday with Joe Wilson, and Taylor Miles coming in for Elijah Oladunjoye and Dwayne Duncan.
After a fairly soggy afternoon the weather was more settled at kick off time and on a fine and lush playing surface the scene was set for another dramatic game with a home tie against Bedfont Sports awaiting the winners.
The match began with Hanwell looking threatening and had the first shooting chances when Ade Shokunbi fired wide and in the sixth minute when Joe Wilson tested Harry Seaden with a low shot from the edge of the area.
Cray though were looking enterprising on the ball especially with the threat of Lateef Adaja and helped set up Nods Bobomurodov and Ashley Nzala for shots blocked.
In the tenth minute though Hanwell had a good chance when Alfie Pendlebury played the ball out to Jordy Mongoy down the right and the striker looked to have done everything right but pulled his shot past the left post.
After a tricky first quarter of an hour when Cray had to knuckle down and battle the Wands began to bare their teeth and perhaps edged the last half hour.
In the 16th minute Cray came close when Adaja’s cross from the left came to Alex Hernandez who agonisingly saw his goalbound shot blocked bravely by Callum Woodcock and go over the bar for a corner. From the corner Marc-Anthony Okoye’s header was claimed by Sam Beasant.
Hanwell won a couple of corners and from the second of these the ball came to Alfie Pendlebury who hooked an effort over the bar.
Cray continued to threaten and George Brooke who had an outstanding game found Hernandez down the left of the area whose shot took a slight deflection off Harry Seabrook and into the arms of Beasant.
On the half hour Cray came desperately close to taking the lead when Adaja ran from midfield, cut into the area down the left but saw his shot hit the right post and back out into play.
Then a minute later when Bobomurodov and Quade Taylor combined to set up Adrian Owiredu-Gyamera who down the left fired a shot just wide of the right post.
The last half opening of a forty-five minutes which seemed to fly by came for Cray who had weathered the early storm and Owiredu-Gyamera from distance hooked the ball over following a corner.
HT: 0-0
The second half was a bit more of a dogged affair but was still an engrossing cup tie which you felt may well be decided by one goal.
Hanwell again began well after having to make a half time change with Ade Shokunbi replaced by Eddie Cooper in midfield. The first chance of the second half came four minutes after the restart when Mongoy down the right who was a real threat in both matches played the ball to the far post where full back Roberto Nditi got to the ball but his shot was pushed out well by Seaden.
Hanwell saw a couple of shots charged down despite howls from the home fans for penalties and Bradley Clayton, another thorn in the Wands side saw a shot comfortably held by Seaden.
Going into the last twenty minutes Chris Dickson was introduced off the bench and came close within a couple of minutes of giving Cray the lead. Prosper Keto and George Brooke combined to put Dickson in down the right of the area but Sam Besant did very well to block the near post shot.
It looked like both teams wanted to avoid an extra half hour and Brooke looked for a great piece of opportunism to break the deadlock with a fine volley from outside the area which just lofted over the bar.
In the 81st minute Hanwell had a great chance to take the lead when Clayton found Taylor Miles and his cross down the right fell invitingly to substitute Kameron English but with the goal seemingly inevitable hit his shot at Seaden to make a save from eight yards. Then Seaden made a comfortable save to deny Daniel Carr from distance.
It did appear the game was heading for an extra half hour but there was a late twist when in the first of additional minutes Hanwell took the lead when Clayton hooked a pass out to English who cut inside from the right and left footed drove a shot possibly off a tiny deflection wide of Seaden and into the net to make up for his earlier miss.
This left little time for Cray to respond and despite a late flurry of activity couldn’t muster the energy to level and Hanwell in the end advanced after two fine FA Cup battles.
Despite the defeat there were plusses for Cray in what was a patched up side and everyone left everything out on the pitch and it was a great team effort but in the end over the two games Hanwell had shown what a tough side they are to beat and showed the quality of the Southern League Premier South.
Cray now move on to the league on Saturday with a trip to Lewes and hoping for more returnees but credit to the Wands fans who made it to Middlesex on a wet afternoon and night and gave it their all.
Hanwell Town: Sam Beasant (Capt.), Joe Wilson (Dan Carr, 78), Roberto Nditi, Callum Woodcock, Harry Seabrook, Harry Hoath, Ade Shokunbi (Eddie Cooper, H/T), Taylor Miles, Alfie Pendlebury (Kameron English, 76), Bradley Clayton (Seth Patrick, 90+3), Jordy Mongoy (Addison Garnett, 90+5)
Booked: Wilson 36, Mongoy 52
Cray Wanderers: Harry Seaden, Prosper Keto, Jamie Watson, Marc-Anthony Okoye, Adrian Owiredu-Gyamera, George Brooke (Tom Jackson, 88), Quade Taylor (Capt.), Nods Bobomurodov, Lateef Adaja, Ashley Nzala (Chris Dickson, 71), Alex Hernandez: Subs: Victor Damyanov, Michael Ihiedi, Ed Mare.
Booked: Hernandez 53, Bobomourodov 90+5
Referee: Derrick Laing
Assistants: Marc Rister, Adel Rasoul
Att: 269
